Gabby Malpas
Gabby Malpas creates intricate and joyful works in painting and ceramics that explore identity, belonging, and cultural reclamation.
Gabby Malpas is a multimedia visual artist whose practice spans over four decades. She is currently based on the unceded lands of the Gadigal people. Drawing on her experiences as a Chinese adoptee raised by white parents in New Zealand, Malpas reinterprets the Western tradition of Chinoiserie through vibrant, layered compositions featuring still life imagery of flora and fauna grown in New South Wales. Her creations invite viewers to uncover the delicate yet complex stories embedded within them.
Recent exhibitions include The Tea Exchange at the Museum of Chinese in Australia (MOCA), February to April 2024; Send Me Across the Sea at Helvella Art in Oakland, California, March 2024; Art + Memory curated by Pam McKinlay and Katharine Allard at Dunedin Community Gallery, New Zealand, August 2024; and Poetic Resistance at Baker Miller Pink Gallery, Sydney, 2023.
Malpas has been a finalist in prestigious awards such as the Ravenswood Women's Art Prize and North Sydney Art Prize in 2024, the Art Gemini Prize in Singapore, and the Crackpot Cup Awards in Australia in 2023. Previous recognitions include being shortlisted for the Gosford Art Prize, the FLOW Art Prize at Wollongong Art Gallery (2022/2023), and the Paddington Art Prize in 2022.
In this interview, Malpas discusses her journey of artistic exploration and identity reclamation, delving into how her personal narrative as a Chinese adoptee has shaped her creative process. She reflects on the intersections of race, privilege, and cultural identity while offering insights into how these themes manifest in her vibrant, thought-provoking works.
Video production by Atypical 2024.
Photo by Garry Trinh 2024.
Photo ID: Portrait of Gabby Malpas sitting on a folding chair in a brightly lit ceramics studio, surrounded by shelves filled with paints, pottery tools, and colourful ceramic works. She is wearing white t-shirt and black shorts, and is looking at the camera and smiling.
